Posts Tagged ‘kindness’

 

Blessing Myself for Shabbat

Posted on: July 1st, 2015 by Alden

1024px-Shabbat_ChallosThis is a new take on an old custom: blessing our children on Shabbat. In this prayer, we take a moment to bless ourselves, an act of self-kindness. This idea of expanding the custom is reflected in two other prayers: “Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home” and “Blessing for a Spouse/Partner.”

Blessing Myself for Shabbat
G-d of Old,
Thank you for the week that has passed.
Thank you for this Shabbat.
Bless those around me with
Your love and Your light.
Let Your light shine on me, as well.
Help me to live a life of kindness and service
Guided by Torah and Mitzvot.
Let me see others through Your eyes,
With compassion and understanding.
Let me see myself through Your eyes,
With forgiveness and grace.
[Heal my body and spirit.]
May Your goodness rain down upon us
From this Shabbat until the next,
And all the days of our lives.

© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other Shabbat prayers and stories include: “Come Beloved,” “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” “About Shabbat,” “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.

Tweetable! Please help share this prayer with this suggested tweet, including the link:
Bless yourself this Shabbat! A new take on an old custom: https://tobendlight.com/?p=12727

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Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Lech Lecha 5774: For Service

Posted on: October 12th, 2013 by tobendlight

thumbs_lech%20lechaIn Lech Lecha, G-d tells Avram that he will be a blessing to humanity. “…and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2) With the change of one vowel, the Midrash relates, the Hebrew word for ‘blessing’ becomes ‘spring of water.’ And so, by blessing, we heal, we purify, we connect each other to G-d. For Lech Lecha 5774, I’ve replaced the metaphor of being a ‘lamp’ with being a ‘well’ of love. Ultimately, this is a prayer about living a life of service. The original will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

For Service (Lech Lecha 5774)
G-d of our fathers,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
G-d of our mothers,
Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel,
Open my heart to serve others
With joy and thanksgiving.
Remove ego, judgment and self-will
So that I am present with kindness and understanding.
Make me a tool of Your hand,
An echo of Your voice,
A well, overflowing with Your love.
Grant me the wisdom to offer myself willingly, without fear.
Fill me with compassion and grace,
Vitality and endurance,
So that my service becomes a blessing
In heaven and on earth.

Blessed are You, G-d of Old,
You set Your people on a noble path,
To serve with love.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other prayers that touch on the theme of service include: “Giving Thanks,” “To Hear Your Voice” and “To Know Your Word.”

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Photo Source: Rebecca Gottesman – Fine Art

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Bracha Simcha

Posted on: October 14th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s another short, short story (167 words), this one about prayer and righteousness. To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Bracha Simcha
Bracha Simcha recites her morning prayers at night. At dawn, they make no sense.  At dawn, she’s already busy. At dawn, she’s already making her rounds. Some days, the baker hands her a slice of new bread, even though she can’t pay for a piece of old crust. Some days, the butcher leaves her a small parcel of cooked meat. When her coat rips, the tailor mends it. When her boots tear, the shoemaker repairs them. And when her stomach growls her open palm can hold any coin she’s given. On cold nights, the rabbi lets her sleep by the fading embers of the chedar stove. As she closes her eyes, Bracha Simcha remembers the morning blessings. “Praised are You, O G-d Our Maker, who gives strength to the weary. Praised are you, O G-d Our Maker, who provides for all my needs…” And Bracha Simcha drifts off to sleep satisfied with her sacred duty: giving others the chance to cloth the naked and feed the hungry.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other short stories about prayer include: “Yaakov Shraga,” “Chava bat Chana” and “Dov Mendel.”

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

For Service

Posted on: June 6th, 2011 by tobendlight

service-to-othersA prayer about living a life of service. It appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. I have also selected it for use during week six of Counting the Omer. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

For Service
G-d of our fathers,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
G-d of our mothers,
Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel,
Open my heart to serve others
With joy and thanksgiving.
Remove ego, judgment and self-will
So that I am present with kindness and understanding.
Make me a tool of Your hand,
An echo of Your voice,
And a shining lamp of Your love.
Grant me the wisdom to offer myself willingly, without fear.
Fill me with compassion and grace,
Vitality and endurance,
So that my service becomes a blessing
In heaven and on earth.

Blessed are You, G-d of Old,
You set Your people on a noble path,
To serve with love.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other prayers that touch on the theme of service include: “Giving Thanks,” “To Hear Your Voice” and “To Know Your Word.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: A Project for Kindness

Omer, Week One: Chesed

Posted on: April 19th, 2011 by tobendlight

chesed1Here’s a list of prayers for your use during week one of Counting the Omer: Chesed– Lovingkindness, love, benevolence. They’re listed in my suggested order, from day 1 at the top of the list to day 7 at the bottom. To read them, please click on the name of the prayer.

And a prayer about Counting the Omer: “The Season of Counting.”

During the seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot, the period from the exodus to revelation on Sinai, Jews count the days and the weeks. And so we remember the journey from the depths of slavery to the heights of G-d’s Holy Presence. According to mystical practice, each week has a theme (and each day a sub-theme) that leads us toward revelation. Here are links to prayers and meditations for each week of counting the Omer and Shavuot:

  • Week One: Chesed (Lovingkindness, Love, Benevolence)
  • Week Two: Gevurah (Discipline, Justice, Restraint, Awe)
  • Week Three: Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony, Compassion, Truth)
  • Week Four: Netzach (Eternity, Endurance, Fortitude, Ambition)
  • Week Five: Hod (Humility, Splendor)
  • Week Six: Yesod  (Foundation, Bonding)
  • Week Seven: Malchut (Nobility, Sovereignty, Leadership)
  • Shavuot

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Photo Credit: Kabbalah Names

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